On May 27-28, EU foreign ministers will discuss candidates for the role of mediator with Russia

EU foreign ministers will discuss candidates for the role of mediator for negotiations with Russia next week, TASS reports, citing the Financial Times (FT).

According to sources, the ministers will discuss the candidates' credentials at an informal meeting on May 27-28 in Cyprus. Washington and Kyiv reportedly supported the idea of EU negotiations with the Russian leadership. The US administration, which has been actively negotiating a Ukrainian settlement for the past year, informed the EU that it does not object to Brussels conducting parallel negotiations with Moscow, the newspaper's sources said.

Former Italian and German prime ministers Mario Draghi and Angela Merkel, as well as Finnish President Alexander Stubb and his predecessor Sauli Niinistö, are among the candidates mentioned for the role of mediator. These candidates are being discussed among EU countries at various levels. It is possible that the issue will be a topic at the leaders' summit in June.

On May 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, answering journalists' questions, stated that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is the preferred candidate for possible negotiations between the EU and Russia. He added that the Russian side has never been closed to negotiations.